SPRINGFIELD – The City Council voted Monday to approve the purchase of the vacant Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield property at 15 Catharine St. for $2.8 million for school programs and classrooms.

Councilors including Timothy Rooke and Bud Williams said the price was right and the purchase fulfills needs within the School Department for classroom space.

“It takes a vacant building out of the heart of the Mason Square,” Williams said.

The site will be used for pre-school and other classroom needs, initially for the School Department, to help replace portable classrooms at the Mary Lynch and Brunton schools in need of expensive repairs, said Timothy J. Plante, the city’s chief administrative and financial officer.

Ultimately, the city would anticipate also leasing any unneeded space at the Catharine Street site to private educational organizations for pre-school students.

The vote was unanimous to purchase the building.

Rooke and Williams said that if the city was to construct a building of that size for school uses it would be far more expensive. In addition, Plante said it has a large kitchen that will aid the school system's breakfast-lunch program.

The city offered to pay $2,844,200 for the property, the assessed value, which was accepted by the owner, the Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield, which had shut down the center in December.

The price will be reduced by $100,000 because of some environmental issues found that will be cleaned up, Plante said.